Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015 3A
Polk County News
City, co-op water
dispute heats up
DEADLINES
NEWS DEADLINES
For inclusion in the
Wednesday edition of the
Itemizer-Observer:
Social news (weddings,
engagements, anniver-
saries, births, milestones) —
5 p.m. on Thursday.
Community events —
Noon on Friday for both the
Community Notebook and
Community Calendar.
Letters to the editor —
10 a.m. on Monday.
Obituaries — 4 p.m. on
Monday.
ADVERTISING DEADLINES
Retail display ads — 3
p.m. Friday.
Classified display ads
— 11 a.m. on Monday.
Classified line ads —
Noon on Monday. Classified
ads are updated daily on
www.polkio.com.
Public notices — Noon
on Friday.
CORRECTIONS
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer is committed to
publishing accurate news,
feature and sports reports. If
you see anything that re-
quires a correction or clarifi-
cation, call the newsroom at
503-623-2373 or send an e-
mail to kholland@polkio.com.
WEBSITE
HIGH LOW
31
20
28
39
40
47
42
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Building owner Florin Drutu (left) works with Christina Nora Garza of Sherman Williams
in Portland, deciding which colors to paint the tower and accents on the Cooper Block.
Building renovation work
downtown taking shape
Cooper Block in Independence bustling with activity
The Itemizer-Observer
WEATHER
Jan. 13............... 52
Jan. 14............... 49
Jan. 15............... 52
Jan. 16............... 55
Jan. 17............... 60
Jan. 18............... 59
Jan. 19............... 56
The Itemizer-Observer
By Emily Mentzer
The Polk County Itemizer-
Observer website,
www.polkio.com, is updat-
ed each week by Wednes-
day afternoon. There, you
will find nearly every story
that appears in the print
version of the newspaper,
as well as some items, in-
cluding additional photos,
that do not appear in print
due to space limitations.
RECORDED
By Jolene Guzman
RAIN
.00
.00
.61
.07
1.76
.28
.03
Rainfall during Jan. — 3.17 in.
Rain through Jan. 19 — 3.17 in.
INDEPENDENCE — The
Cooper Block is coming alive,
with restored storefronts on
both Main and C streets, and
framing for offices and apart-
ments complete upstairs.
Already the smell of rotted
wood has left the building,
which has been opened up.
Dry rot has been removed
and damaged floor joists have
been replaced. New beams
were constructed in the base-
ment, raising the floor — and
roof — four inches.
“That’s how much sag this
building had,” said develop-
er Bodie Bemrose.
The building will be as
close as possible to the origi-
nal 1895 structure, down to
the vents below the towering
windows to allow it to
breathe, he said.
“This building won’t rot
out again,” Bemrose said.
The renovated structure
will house three retail places
on the ground floor, includ-
ing a restaurant.
The main entrance on C
Street was opened back up
and the staircase was rebuilt
to original standards, replac-
ing attempts by the previous
owner at a giant spiral stair-
case.
Upstairs to the right will
be three offices, able to be
leased individually or as a
group, catering to small
business, Bemrose said.
To the left will be apart-
ments, ranging in size from
studio to one bedroom. Much
of the space upstairs has been
claimed, with leasing deals in
the final stages, Bemrose said.
However, he is still seeking
tenants for the spaces down-
stairs: two retail spaces and
the restaurant.
“We didn’t veer too much
from the original layout,” Be-
mrose said. “We’re pretty
close to original.”
Much work has been ac-
complished on the old build-
ing, which needed renovat-
ing from the floor joists to the
roof, but much still remains.
Painting, electrical work
and some ceilings and walls
need to be added to the
spaces before it’s move-in
ready.
Building owner Florin
Drutu chose color schemes
for the exterior on Thursday,
and will do the painting him-
self.
The third floor, where the
tower can be accessed, will
be kept by Drutu for person-
al use and not leased out.
Bemrose said he expects
to have an open house when
the building is completed
before renters move in, and
hasn’t given a firm deadline
for project completion.
FALLS CITY — The Falls
City City Council has in-
creased the rates it will
charge Luckiamute Domes-
tic Water Cooperative in
hopes of spurring further
negotiations on a contract
to sell water to the utility.
In September 2014, a
long-term water sales
agreement between the city
and cooperative was ruled
invalid by a Polk County
judge, the outcome of a
lawsuit the city pursued to
dissolve the contract.
At issue originally was
the length of the contract —
20 years — and a handwrit-
ten change made after the
contract was approved by
both the city council and
LDWC board in 2003. The
change, approved by Falls
City’s mayor and LDWC’s
board president at the time,
altered how the city could
calculate rate increases.
In September, Polk Coun-
ty Circuit Court Judge Sally
Avera ruled the mayor didn’t
have the authority to make
the change, and therefore
the contract is invalid.
Negotiations on a revised
contract ended with the
LDWC board voting it down
and the cooperative has filed
an appeal on Avera’s ruling.
In the meantime, the city
has been selling water to
the cooperative at the origi-
nal contract price of $1.05
per 1,000 gallons, a low rate
from the city’s perspective.
Without an agreement,
Mayor Terry Ungricht sug-
gested the city treat LDWC
like any other customer.
“Not that I’ve given up on
trying to have them as a
bulk-rate customer, but in
absence of an agreement, I
think we need to set rates
for them,” he said at the
council’s Jan. 8 meeting.
His suggestion was to
charge “outside city limits
residential” rates for the co-
CITY COUNCIL
operative’s two meters. The
rate for the smaller meter
would be $111.70 per
month on and $157.06 for a
second, larger meter. Those
charges would be the base
rate for 5,000 gallons on
each meter. Any amount of
water more than the base
would be charged at a rate
of $2.84 per 1,000 gallons.
The new rates go into effect
at the end of January.
Ungricht said his intent
with the rate change is to
encourage LDWC to negoti-
ate a bulk rate.
Bob Young, the former
LDWC manager, said the
original sales agreement was
a benefit to both the city and
the cooperative. With all its
wells in Buena Vista, LDWC
was looking for a source of
water to improve pressure
and volume to customers in
the Falls City area. In turn,
Falls City was looking to
make money selling water.
Young agreed the rates
should be higher, but en-
couraged the city to work out
a new agreement.
“I want them as a bulk
rate customer,” Ungricht
said. “But we can’t keep sub-
sidizing their system. I’ve of-
fered them to put something
on the table that we can look
at … . I haven’t received any-
thing.”
Ungricht said Thursday
no negotiations have been
set since the city informed
LDWC of the rate change.
“We are open to meeting
at any time,” Ungricht said.
“We want to sell them water
through (the) rates we have
now or a special bulk rate
agreement.”
Come Enjoy The Fun of Fitness!
INCLUDED WITH MEMBERSHIP
★ Women’s Fitness Area (for women only)
★ Group Fitness Classes for All Fitness Levels
★ Silver & Fit and Silver Sneakers
★ Free Fitness Consultation ★ Child Care Available
hurry in today!
Come tour our Fitness Club!
Offer expires 1/31/15.
503-838-2951
www.monmouthfit.com • 165 E Main St., Monmouth